The holiday boss is a trio of three undead mobs collectively called the Crown Chemical Co. Apothecaries. They are located in the courtyard of Shadowfang Keep and are only accessible through the Looking for Dungeon tool. Once a day defeating the boss will reward a Heart-Shaped Box which can contain several fun items including an ultra rare Big Love Rocket mount and Toxic Wasteling pet and additional Love Tokens. While subsequent kills that day will not drop reward a Heart-Shaped Box, the boss also drops necklaces every kill. There is no limit to number of tries a day, meaning you can kill them continuously until you get your desired neck piece. Beating this encounter also rewards the achievement Tough Love.

Prior to the 2011 revamp of the holiday, Love is in the Airwas basically a faction contest. It involved players obtaining Gift Collections from their respective faction cities in order to create an Alliance Gift Collection or a Horde Gift Collection. These collections would be turned in to whichever faction leader the player preferred, and an overall faction tally for the realm would be displayed in the top center of the screen.

Other than the short (and inconvenient) story that ended with the player getting to choose a dress, the companion pet Peddlefeet, and Lovely Black Dress... The holiday was something only to be celebrated by collectors and PvP gankers. In 2010, it was pretty undeniable that a lot of players didn't care about the faction tally (which was purely for bragging rights). And with the Cataclysm expansion, Blizzard viewed it as an opportune time to overhaul the holiday.